[Invited Talk] Fireside Chat with Sota Kobayashi — Rethinking Human Agency in the Age of AI Agents
We are pleased to host a Fireside Chat with Sota Kobayashi, a software engineer and entrepreneur currently building a startup in Silicon Valley. In an era where AI agents are becoming the norm, how do we protect and expand our ability to think for ourselves and our sense of agency? Join us for an hour of in-depth, small-group conversation with Kobayashi-san, who wrestles with these questions while building products on the front lines.This is a rare opportunity for students interested in data science, AI agents, entrepreneurship, studying abroad, and international careers. We warmly welcome your participation.Event Details
| TITLE | Fireside Chat with Sota Kobayashi |
|---|---|
| DATE & TIME | Friday, June 19 · 17:00–18:00 |
| VENUE | Musashino University, Ariake Campus — Building 5, 6F, Faculty of Data Science Joint Research Room |
| FORMAT | In person, small group In dialogue with Prof. Takahashi (Faculty of Data Science) |
| REGISTRATION | Please register in advance via the form below: forms.gle/ny4mWppULKS9xdSw7 |
Speaker Profile: Sota Kobayashi
Founder / Software Engineer. After earning a BA in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, he has worked as a software engineer and entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, building AI systems for manufacturing. He is currently a member of Cohort 2 of DelightX, the entrepreneur development program run by DeNA. While building his own startup in Silicon Valley, he aims to rethink the relationship between AI and humans and to expand what people are capable of.
What he is working on
Kobayashi-san is building the infrastructure that lets personal AI agents and agent-native services connect naturally. He expects that going forward, web services, brick-and-mortar stores, government, and enterprise systems will be operated not only by people but also by agents. Yet the means for agents to smoothly hand off information — the context, profile, intent, and history of individuals and organizations — are still far from mature.
What interests him is a mechanism for passing “context tied to people and things” to the right party, in the right form. A personal agent conveys its owner’s situation to an agent-native service, and the service returns the information that person needs. He wants these exchanges to be handled not as swapping email addresses or accounts, but as relationships between agents — something like a phone book for agents.
As in Ghost in the Shell or Mega Man Battle Network (Rockman EXE), the worldview behind this vision is one in which a variety of intelligent beings surround a person, each tied to services, objects, places, and organizations. But this is not about leaving humans behind: it aims to free people from non-essential work, heighten human agency, and augment human capability. Rather than simply delegating tasks to AI, he is trying to redesign how services work in an era where agents are a given — so that people can think, choose, and build relationships better.
Selected experience
Woven by Toyota / Software Engineer (Sep 2025 – Feb 2026) — Worked on an end-to-end digital twin solution spanning the entire manufacturing factory process — the same technology used in Toyota’s city of the future, Woven City — applied to bring future-city standards into existing industries. Served as a bridge between software engineering and solution architecture, from gathering client requirements to designing data pipelines and implementing systems.
UnitX / Software Engineer (Jul 2022 – May 2025, Santa Clara, California, USA) — Led full-stack development of an AI vision inspection platform using Django and React. Developed 2.5D image workflows for manufacturing defect detection, collaborating with international teams.
International House of Japan / Nitobe Leadership Program Fellow (Aug 2025 – Mar 2026) — A seven-month leadership program with a rigorous selection process. Launched and led a breakout group, “Project Management Squad,” to help members move their projects forward, and worked on research into AI and human autonomy as well as hands-on AI workshops for non-engineers.
Wakara / Mathematics, Statistics & Machine Learning Instructor (2019 – 2021) — Private tutoring and corporate training for university students and working professionals, including preparation for the GMAT, the Japan Statistical Society Certificate, and graduate school entrance exams.
Education & more
University of California, Berkeley — BA in Computer Science (2022)
Diablo Valley College — Associate’s Degree in Mathematics (2016)
Hibiya High School (Tokyo Metropolitan)
Languages: Japanese (native) / English (business level)
Patent: Anomaly Detection for Models with Limited Training Data
Who should attend
Anyone interested in AI agents and agent-native products
Anyone curious about entrepreneurship and careers in Silicon Valley, or engineering abroad
Anyone who wants to think about “AI and human agency” from both technical and societal angles
As this is a small-group event, we plan to set aside time for you to ask the speaker questions directly. We look forward to welcoming many of you.
MIDS is now recruiting its second cohort, entering in April 2027. For details, please see Musashino University's admissions information.
Contact: Asia AI Institute, Musashino University
Musashino University, Ariake Campus, 3-3-3 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8181, Japan
Associate Professor Dr. Yusuke Takahashi — yusuke@mids.ac
Related resource: MIDS Official Site